Two means of monitoring water availability in casein model systems were compared. Adsorption isotherms of rennet casein and freezedried casein-sodium chloride (NaCI) (95:5 ratio) were obtained over the a, range 0.43 to 0.85. Over the entire a,,. range the casein-NaC1 samples s&bed more water than the casein only samples. Deuterium (7H) Nuclear Majrnetic Resonance (NMR1 R, and R, relaxation na-;a&eters were measured in the samd casein model systems. A lin'ear relation between a, and both II1 and R2 was observed. However, at equal h,, both R1 and R, values were found to be lower for the caseinNaCl system than for the casein only system. This indicated that the water in the NaCl containing system was more rotationally mobile than the water in the system without NaCl at the same a,.